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European Radiology, 20 (7), ISSN:0938-7994, ISSN:1432-1084

Objectives To investigate the accuracy of post-mortem diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for the detection of myocardial infarction (MI) and to demonstrate the feasibility of helix angle (HA) calculation to study remodelling of myofibre architecture. Methods Cardiac DTI was performed in 26 deceased subjects prior to autopsy for medicolegal reasons. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were determined. Accuracy was calculated on per-segment (AHA classification), per-territory, and per-patient basis, with pathology as reference standard. HAs were calculated and compared between healthy segments and those with MI. Results Autopsy demonstrated MI in 61/440 segments (13.9 %) in 12/26 deceased subjects. Healthy myocardial segments had significantly higher FA (p 0.05). Conclusions Post-mortem cardiac DTI enablesdifferentiation between healthy and infarcted myocardial segments by means of FA and MD. HA assessment allows for the demonstration of remodelling of myofibre architecture following chronic MI. Key Points • DTI enables post-mortem detection of myocardial infarction with good accuracy. • A decrease in right-handed helical fibre indicates myofibre remodelling following chronic myocardial infarction. • DTI allows for ruling out myocardial infarction by means of FA. • Post-mortem DTI may represent a valuable screening tool in forensic investigations., European Radiology, 24 (11), ISSN:0938-7994, ISSN:1432-1084

European Radiology, 21 (8), ISSN:0938-7994, ISSN:1432-1084

Purpose: To describe prospective ECG-triggered dual-source CT dual-step pulsing (pECGdual_step) for evaluation of coronary arteries and cardiac function. Methods: Fifty-one consecutive patients pre- or post-cardiovascular surgery were examined with adaptive sequential tube current modulated (pECGdual-step) 128-slice dual-source CT without heart rate control (main padding window: 40% RR interval >65bpm/70% RR interval

Objectives: The objective was to prospectively investigate the diagnostic accuracy of high-pitch (HP) dual-source computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) compared with catheter coronary angiography (CCA) for the diagnosis of significant coronary stenoses. Methods: Thirty-five patients (seven women; mean age 62 ± 8years) underwent both CTCA and CCA. CTCA was performed with a second-generation dual-source CT system permitting data acquisition at an HP of 3.4. Patients with heart rates >60bpm were excluded from study enrolment. All coronary segments were evaluated by two blinded and independent observers with regard to image quality on a four-point scale (1: excellent to 4: non-diagnostic) and for the presence of significant coronary stenoses (defined as diameter narrowing exceeding 50%). CCA served as the standard of reference. Radiation dose values were calculated using the dose-length product. Results: Diagnostic image quality was found in 99% of all segments (455/459). Non-diagnostic image quality occurred in a single patient with a sudden increase in heart rate immediately before and during CTCA. Taking segments with non-evaluative image quality as positive for disease, the sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values were 94, 96, 80 and 99% per segment and 100, 91, 88 and 100% per patient. The effective radiation dose was on average 0.9 ± 0.1mSv. Conclusion: In patients with heart rates ≤60bpm, CTCA using the HP mode of the dual-source CT system is associated with high diagnostic accuracy for the assessment of coronary artery stenoses at sub-milliSievert doses

Purpose: To compare the accuracy of PET/MR imaging with that of FDG PET/CT and to determine the MR sequences necessary for the detection of liver metastasis using a trimodality PET/CT/MR set-up. Methods: Included in this single-centre IRB-approved study were 55 patients (22 women, age 61 ± 11years) with suspected liver metastases from gastrointestinal cancer. Imaging using a trimodality PET/CT/MR set-up (time-of-flight PET/CT and 3-T whole-body MR imager) comprised PET, low-dose CT, contrast-enhanced (CE) CT of the abdomen, and MR with T1-W/T2-W, diffusion-weighted (DWI), and dynamic CE imaging. Two readers evaluated the following image sets for liver metastasis: PET/CT (set A), PET/CECT (B), PET/MR including T1-W/T2-W (C), T1-W/T2-W with either DWI (D) or CE imaging (E), and a combination (F). The accuracy of each image set was determined by receiver-operating characteristic analysis using image set B as the standard of reference. Results: Of 120 liver lesions in 21/55 patients (38%), 79 (66%) were considered malignant, and 63/79 (80%) showed abnormal FDG uptake. Accuracies were 0.937 (95% CI 89.5-97.9%) for image set A, 1.00 (95% CI 99.9-100.0%) for set C, 0.998 (95% CI 99.4-100.0%) for set D, 0.997 (95% CI 99.3-100.0%) for set E, and 0.995 (95% CI 99.0-100.0%) for set F. Differences were significant for image sets D-F (P

To systematically investigate into the relationships between luminal enhancement, convolution kernel, plaque density, and stenosis severity in coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography. A coronary phantom including 63 stenoses (stenosis severity, 10-90%; plaque densities, -100 to 1,000 HU) was loaded with increasing solutions of contrast material (luminal enhancement, 0-700 HU) and scanned in an anthropomorphic chest. CT data was acquired with prospective triggering using 64-section dual-source CT; reconstructions were performed with soft-tissue (B26f) and sharp convolution kernels (B46f). Two blinded and independent readers quantitatively assessed luminal diameter and CT number of plaque using electronic calipers. Measurement bias between phantom dimensions and CT measurements were calculated. Multivariate linear regression models identified predictors of bias. Inter- and intra-reader agreements of luminal diameter and CT number measurements were excellent (ICCs0.91, p0.01, each). Measurement bias of luminal diameter and plaque density was significantly (p0.01, each) lower (-12% and 58 HU, respectively) with B46f as opposed to B26f, especially in plaque densities200 HU. Measurement bias was significantly (p0.01, each) correlated (ρ = 0.37-55 and ρ = -0.70-85) with the differences between luminal enhancement and plaque density. In multivariate models, bias of luminal diameter assessment with CT was correlated with plaque density (β = 0.09, p0.05). Convolution kernel (β = -0.29 and -0.38), stenosis severity (β = -0.45 and -0.38), and luminal enhancement (β = -0.11 and -0.29) represented independent (p0.05,each) predictors of measurement bias of luminal diameter and plaque number, respectively. Significant independent relationships exist between luminal enhancement, convolution kernel, plaque density, and luminal diameter, which have to be taken into account when performing, evaluating, and interpreting coronary CT angiography.